We start to explore

Because we had been so busy in our first weeks we decided to do something fun for a change. So we look on the internet and found a nice restaurant with great reviews that let you watch the different birds that come to the many feeders dispersed on the property. It's called Garden House Bird Observatory. According to Google maps, it should have been only 41 minutes from our place.

So we got Betza, our preferred taxi driver, to pick us up. We drove up the mountain to where the air starts being quite fresh and cool. We knew it was near the entrance to Chirripo National Park so we went past the entrance onto a very narrow road that didn't seem to be designed for driving, at least not with a regular car - maybe a jeep. But Betza kept on until finally we told her to turn around before she bottomed out on some of the rocks in the road. We then asked directions, well Betza did, in Spanish, so we couldn't understand the conversation but she seemed enlightened. So off we go again! Another road that turns out to be more of a cattle trail and still no restaurant. We ended up driving for a few hours and we were getting hungry. Eventually, we met some hikers and the one guy could speak English but he looked like he had drunk one beer too many. Anyway, with his help, we ended up going down a steep hill, over a narrow bridge to a restaurant. I don't even know what it was called.
There was food and that's all we wanted.

That restaurant was a bit peculiar in that if you wanted fish, you had to catch it in one of the ponds (they gave you only a fishing line, no pole, with bait) and they would clean it and cook it for you. Kinda fun if you're into that. Glen and I shared nachos while watching a young couple catch fish in the pond.

On the way there

The road to the restaurant

Inside the restaurant

Another nice small waterfall

Young couple fishing

He's got one!

Bridge to the ponds

So it was an interesting place and the food was good but how they stay in business is beyond me as one has to know where it is since there are no signs on the road and it is such a steep hill that you can't really see what's there. Leaving there was a bit of a problem as Betza car couldn't make it up the hill. The guys that were there came over to help and told her to back up onto the bridge which she refused. The bridge was very narrow and only had guardrails on one side - slightly treacherous! So one of the guys asked her if he could do it. He backed it up with no hesitation then gunned it up that hill like the earth was crumbling behind us (yes I was still in the car). Good job! We were on the road again!

It turned out to be an expensive journey just to have nachos in the mountains somewhere but hey! that's what exploring is all about!

Our other expedition was to go to Atenas to view some houses for rent. We decided to rent a car since we were going to stay there overnight (it's 3 1/2 hours from where we now live) and I didn't want to drive those roads at night. So we reserved a small automatic car on the web and reserved a room at a B&B close to where we were going. We were meeting with the real estate agent at 1pm so we left in the morning early enough to give us some time in case of snafus. When we got to the rental place, the lady who was there greeted us in English so we thought: "Good, she speaks our language!". NOT!
I think the greeting was all she knew. Lucky for us there was a guy there who had had his truck washed by them and he offered to help. He came up to the office and made sure we understood everything and asked all the questions we had regarding the lease. What we found out was that they didn't have an automatic for us. Right away Glen is ready to go back home. Hold on amigo! I have driven standard before, in fact, I learned to drive on a standard (from my mother who couldn't really drive standard - a good case of the blind leading the blind). It was a long time ago but I remembered very well. So we took off quite smoothly without any skipping and hopping like I used to do as a teenager.

Now the other snag is that, even though we had the route on Google map, very few of the streets have names or signs in town. We had to go through San Isidro before getting on the highway that follows the coast. We made it by following the map very closely. The highway along the coast is very nice. It's wide and well-paved and feels like anywhere in Ontario. We promised ourselves to stop at some of the beaches on the way back. Then we had to go through the mountains before reaching the valley. Oh wow! That is an experience in itself! The road is narrow, twisty, up and down and truly feels like a roller coaster. If you get stuck behind a truck that can barely make it up the hills you have no choice but to follow as there are very, very few areas where you can pass safely enough. We rarely got to third gear. It's too bad Glen didn't take any pictures. To make a long story short, we finally arrived in Atenas and thought we would drop our bags at the B&B before meeting with Marianna (the agent).

We get to the B&B and the gate is closed. I honked the horn but no one showed up. Great. I call the number on the website and I get a message that the number is not in operation. Wonderful. Finally, I decided to try sending a message through Whatsapp since everybody in Costa Rica seems to use it. No response. So we decide to get to town and have lunch.

We found a little corner restaurant with only two small tables on the sidewalk. The owner spoke many languages and one of them was English. He made us the nicest croissant sandwiches! They were delicious and fresh.

We then made our way to our meeting place. Marianna is a beautiful young woman who also speaks many languages. She has lived in a lot of different countries in the world. Very nice and sincere. We ended up liking the first place we saw and later on signing a lease agreement to move on January 15th. It's a very quiet place (which is what we wanted) surrounded by nature and with a lovely pool at our disposal along with a rancho (covered area for barbecuing and entertaining). The owner seems quite nice and speaks some English. It's going to be hard to beat our present landlords that are extremely good to us. It's a little less expensive than where we now live but doesn't include a housekeeper.

Oh! I almost forgot! We finally did get in touch with our B&B (Orchid Tree) and they told us that they were now open. When we showed up later in the afternoon the gate was still closed but it did open after a few minutes. I guess they weren't there earlier. A very nice young lady (another beauty with fabulous hair) showed us around. Her family had just bought the property about 5 months before so I now understand the lack of organization. But once there we were in a little piece of heaven. Lots of nature, nice room, good internet, a pool, and a covered kitchen with sofas and comfy chairs to spend time there.

Going to our room on the right. 

Beside the pool. Very comfy!

Our trusted car

That night we went out to a restaurant for dinner. After driving all over small treacherous roads in the dark, we decided to go back to the town center where we found a family restaurant. We had the best chili ever! All made from scratch. I had lemonade that was perfect. And it was cheap! We'll definitely go back there.

In the morning we were treated to a typical Costa Rican breakfast. Eggs, beans, rice, fruit.

On our way back, I did a big blooper! I was following a truck and it looked to me at the time as if he was taking an exit ramp. So I quickly veered and said: "Oh! I almost followed him down that ramp!" only to then say: "Glen! I'm driving on the wrong side of the highway!" The only thing that came out of his mouth was: "Fuck!". Thank God there wasn't very much traffic and I was able to do a u-turn back to go the right way and then exit to come back in the direction we were originally going. It wasn't a ramp after all. It was just the highway dividing with a low cement wall in between. That was a first for me! We did drive into Jaco but didn't make it to the beach. It's a big town with lots of stores and geared to tourists. Should be fun to explore later as we'll only be 45 minutes from there.

We did stop at the Dominical Beach which is the one closest to where we now live. We were curious to see what it was like. It's mostly a surfer beach with beach bums and want-to-be hippies. We ate at a restaurant on the beach which was good but expensive. What a difference when you're in a tourist destination! There were vendors set up on the beach with some nice stuff. I bought a pair of nice pants that look like a long skirt and are really comfortable. I've worn them many times already!

Along the way

A man threw fish guts in the water or fish he didn't want

Enough playtime in the water for today!

The restaurant where we had lunch

The long line of vendors

Glen tried on a handmade hat. I tried it too and it was amazingly comfortable.

And we're back! I'm wearing my new pants but they look nicer from the front.

 Back home we were treated to seeing small parrots in the trees and then this beautiful blue bird.

The first few weeks

It felt like we had barely landed and we were whisked away to our first appointment. Liz who was our contact for the rental, also took it upon herself to make sure we got everything done and also to educate us in the ways of the Ticos.

We arrived at our house late Saturday and Monday morning we had an appointment with the immigration guy.

But first we had to get 4 passport-sized photos for the application and also several copies of each document.

There is our taxi. The white car.

We were then taken to Juan's place. I expected an office, maybe in a building in town, but Juan Flores operates out of his home. I couldn't believe when the taxi stopped in front of this place.

Yes, this is the front of his house/business. Thank God the man knows what he's doing and that he was very meticulous (we were there for hours).

Here I am at his "desk". That man with the beard is Juan.

We then ate at a soda where they serve (all of them do) a basic meal of rice, beans, salad, and meat for 1,000 colones which is roughly $2.30 CAD. It's a big meal with large enough portions and quite good. Liz also showed us around a bit - translate that we walked a lot. Told us how some pharmacies have a doctor that will see you for free and the fact that you don't really need a prescription for most drugs except pain killers. I ended having to get antibiotics for a UTI - I seem to always get one when we reach our destination - and the "doc" didn't even ask for a urine sample, just gave me the drugs. It's very different here.

After we were done with the residency application Juan asked us if we wanted to get married the next day. OK, let's do that.

The bride getting ready. Yes, my jewelry is in a ziplock bag!

A selfie before we leave.

Glen went all out and wore long pants. Thank you Glen!

Here we are in the very romantic lawyer's office. Richard came as a witness along with Liz.

You may kiss the bride (or that's what we understood from the Spanish and the gestures)

Making it official.

The lawyer is the guy in the black T-shirt, wearing jeans and sporting his sunglasses on top of his head.
So official!

Liz decided that we just had to go to the Feria which is the weekly farmers' market. Good deals she said! Well it's not so cheap when you decide to buy everything you see! It was exciting to taste so many exotic fruits we had never seen before. I have forgotten what most of them are called but when I now see them at the supermarket I know what they are. So we piled up in a taxi and headed for San Isidro's market.

This is Liz.

So it's all under a roof so perfect during the rainy season. Most of the fruits and vegetables are local but some sell imported goods to bring variety. The merchants are really nice and will gladly let you taste their products. Liz, who is very pushy and a bit crazy, basically ate something from every stall. I think it was her lunch. She sometimes even grabbed two or three pieces to eat while shopping. I was a bit embarrassed and mentioned that basically what she was doing was stealing but it didn't faze her at all.

This fruit is filled with what looks like snot to me. It looks so disgusting but is actually quite good. But after eating some I kept feeling nauseated by the thought of it and decided to never eat it again.

We don't have a dog but the neighbour's dog, which lives in the apartment below us, comes to visit regularly and since we often leave the front door open, she will just come in, say hello to each of us, then plop herself down where she often stays for the whole afternoon. She does return to her owner when he whistles for her. She is very sweet but is very stinky which makes me reluctant to pet her too much. Her name is Maddie.

We also had to get fingerprinted at the police station. We all piled into one taxi - Liz in the front seat, Glen and I and Juan (who is a bit on the large size) squeezed into the back seat. 

That too took an eternity. You can't be in a hurry in Costa Rica. After a million questions and the police officer, looking up from his computer to look at me as if checking to make sure my eyes had not changed colour since my passport photo was taken, I finally get fingerprinted. But there is nothing to clean your hands with and the bathroom doesn't have soap. So we left with black fingers.

There is Juan in the background. He's always on his phone.

These errands were all done in the first week! We were so exhausted and I was trying to get over a cold that I most probably caught on the plane. We told Liz we needed time off to rest and I basically slept for 2 days. My cold lasted for 3 weeks which made me cough and blow my nose until I would end up with a mountain of used tissues! I was too tired to get up to throw them out as they were used.

Meanwhile, we did see some birds around our house from our balcony. 

Scarlet rumped Cacique? (not sure)

Lineated Woodpecker

Hoffman's Woodpecker

Bananaquit

Yellow-headed caracara

Tropical Kingbird in the rain

Crimson Backed Tanager in the rain

Not identified

And I leave with the sunset we see over the mountains.